ISLAND CONSTABLES say that for too long they have been working under poor conditions of service, and are calling on the current administration to make good on its promises to improve their lot.
“We work for $8 an hour, 40 hours a week. Our last raise of pay was when Sir David Simmons was the Attorney General [prior to 2001], when it moved from $5 an hour,” lamented president of the Island Constables Association, Samuel Hackett.
“Everything has gone up – bus fare, food, utilities – but our salary has not. We work under the police department and when you ask for a job letter to get a loan, they write that you are a temporary worker so you can’t get the loan because there’s no job security.”
Hackett, who contacted the NATION on behalf of the association, pointed to a section on Page 19 of the Barbados Labour Party’s 2018 manifesto, which promised to bring the terms of conditions of special and island constables in line with human resource best practices.
“I can’t say the last day I see a pay slip. We’ve had people forced to drop out of the union because they couldn’t afford the fees. We have island constables who go home with only an old age pension, no gratuity or Government pension. (CA)
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